nobody's supposed to be here
by aisforaims
Summary: For someone like Emma, living in the Enchanted Forest was not something that came easy. However, True Love in the form of a charming swashbuckler did help quite a bit. [AU. Post-S3. Two part fic. Based on BTS finale pictures.]


Emma Swan did not consider herself high maintenance. She liked to believe she lived a very low-key lifestyle. The number of material items she had in her possession could easily fit into a box. She didn't need much. Everything she did need could be found in her loved ones. That was just how she went about her life. Until the relocation to the Enchanted Forest, that is. Because from that point on it was goodbye indoor plumbing, central heating, and electricity and hello dirt roads, outhouses, and _chimera_. Her life felt like something completely unrecognizable in the Enchanted Forest, but her family was still with her. That was all she could ever really need. Henry had his memories restored, the Wicked Witch was defeated, and all was right in the kingdom.

It should be enough for her.

It was enough.

She simply would get used to the fact that there was no such thing as television or cell phones. Or laundromats. The fact that the smell of the stables would be present whenever a breeze saw fit to blow was going take some time to stomach. Well, that and the fact that she literally witnessed birds sewing a dress for her the day before. That image was not something she expected to see in her life. Not when her version of birds were more Hitchcock and less flying dressmakers.

With the new baby in need of attention, Emma was expected to take on a more diplomatic role. Represent the family, expand her role as the Savior. Summit meetings that needed to be attended, sigils and histories of kingdoms that had to be learned, balls that had to take place. Her parents had been as patient as they could be, though the two royals couldn't quite hide the expectations they had for her.

There were still times when Emma just needed a break though and it was no surprise to her that she often found those moments in the company of a pirate with a hook for a hand.

There were hushed conversations in corners of crowded rooms and also much louder in open spaces. Sometimes they were alone and they didn't talk at all, save for the few choice words whispered against hot skin. Sometimes they just walked in relative silence. Well, as silent as one can be when in the company of a swashbuckler with the gift of gab… which, when she thought back on it, wasn't really all that silent. It was hard not to talk with Hook. The man had read her like a book and snuck past her defenses countless times in an effort to get her to open up to him. It didn't hurt that he seemed to be the only person in her life that hadn't changed in the move to the Enchanted Forest. Black leather coat and pants, vest with a shirt ridiculously unbuttoned underneath… It was something that hasn't changed since the moment they met. It was comforting.

_Familiar._

Only he wasn't anymore.

Emma furrowed her brows at the sight of Hook. He had traded in his traditional pirate coat for a light brown one, handed in his leather pants for one the color gray, and changed the thin material of his barely buttoned, black shirt for a cleaner, pressed, white button up. His whole attire lacked the usual leather, as he chose to wear softer materials that afternoon instead. Gone were the golden buckles and buttons, replaced with something more subtle. The vest he wore beneath his coat had little embellishment to it, unlike the vest she had gotten used to seeing on a daily basis. Everything about his appearance had changed, save for the jewels still in his pierced ears. If she didn't spend so much time around him, Hook would've looked unrecognizable.

_What the hell?_

Emma picked up the skirt of her dress and instantly regretted that she chose that particular day to change out of her regular clothes. She knew that her jeans and shirt were in need of a wash, but that meant having to choose from the gowns her parents had laid out for her. Laid out for her. In all her years, Emma didn't believe she'd ever have that happen to her. While the piles of tulle and sparkle seemed nice enough in theory, she was not skilled enough to move in that much fabric. Emma decided to pick up a less conspicuous outfit. The fabric looked like it came from a burlap sack instead of the softer material it was actually made of. The dress seemed more appropriate for a farmer's daughter than the rulers of the kingdom, but it'll get her through places giant ball gowns could not.

Like weaving through the stables on a mission to stakeout a pirate in disguise.

The blue cape she wore dragged behind her slightly as she crouched down behind bales of hay, eyes locked onto the pirate as he prepared one of the horses for his trip. He paused for a moment, then turned and - _freaking pirate_ - looked right in her direction. Annoyed, Emma rose from her spot and strode through the stables towards the now smirking Hook. She knew she had been caught and wasn't going to try and convince him otherwise. However, given the fact that she wasn't the only one doing somewhat questionable things in that moment, Emma wasn't going to apologize for a damn thing.

"How'd you know?" Emma asked, hands planted on her hips when she stopped beside Hook and the horse.

"After everything that transpired between us, do you really believe I wouldn't know when you're near?" Hook explained, "I don't need True Love to feel your presence, love. I've always felt it."

His smirk softened to a smile as a small laugh escaped Emma's lips. There was no denying from Emma anymore. She had been adamant in leaving the past behind, in working towards her happy ending. Things had been good since then. Really good. They had defeated the Wicked Witch and in doing so Emma discovered quite a few things where Hook was concerned. She realized the true depth of his love for her and had come to embrace her own feelings for him. It was hard to deny something like True Love when her life was one fairy tale adventure after another.

"You wanna explain the wardrobe change then?" Emma asked him, "Or the need for a horse?"

"The horse is for travel," Hook chuckled, his hand raised to scratch at his ear in nervousness, "Surely you'd be aware of this mode of transportation, Swan."

Emma walked beside Hook as he led the horse out of the stables, watched as he mounted. It was somewhat annoying how good he looked on a horse. Like someone straight out of those cheesy romance novels that Emma would absolutely deny ever reading if asked. When she watched him extend his hand out to give her some help onto the horse with him, Emma raised an eyebrow at him.

"I prefer carriages," Emma replied, head cocked to the side slightly, "The automatic kind with engines and radios… and don't think I didn't catch the fact that you ignored the clothes question, buddy."

"The clothes are a bit of a long story," Hook reluctantly confessed, "However, if you chose to join me, I'd have no problem recounting the tale during our travels."

It was a challenge and they both knew it. Hook's hand was still outstretched towards Emma, fingers waggled in playful impatience. She eyed him for a moment and took in his warm smile. There had been a time where Emma would have recoiled from something as simple as an outstretched hand. It had taken quite some time to get to the point where her past issues didn't immediately dictate her actions, but now that she had gotten there? Well, Emma sure as hell didn't want to go back.

"I am not doing that thing where I'm draped over your lap with my legs hanging over one side," Emma told him, as she took his hand, "Partly because it doesn't seem stable at all, but mostly because it looks absolutely ridiculous on TV."

Hook helped Emma up onto the horse, felt her squirm behind him in an attempt to get comfortable. He reigned in the urge to laugh as he heard her mumble complains about her dress and the lack of mobility, then got the back of his head smartly smacked when he tried to turn his head and catch a glimpse of exposed leg. There was a time and place for that, which Hook definitely set aside in his mind to remember later.

Emma moved to wrap her arms around Hook's waist as Hook nudged the horse into a slow trot. She took in the surroundings, the moment. Her on the back of a horse with a pirate - _her pirate_ - traveling to parts unknown. It was moments like this that rendered Emma speechless. Momentarily, of course. She sure as hell wasn't going to let this whole change in clothes thing slide.

"Start from the top and no glossing over the details," Emma instructed, "Unless the birds made the outfit for you too. If that's the case, I don't need to know the details."

"Well," she listened to him as he began, "I supposed it all began when I enlisted my services to the Royal Navy…"


End file.
